The present invention relates to a buckle mechanism adapted for use in seat belts for vehicles and a method for the production of the same.
Recently, passengers are encouraged to use safety seat belts to assure their safety in connection with the fact that the spread of highways leads to a raise in the speed of vehicle traffic thereon. Usually, the passenger puts on tightly a safety seat belt by inserting a tongue mounted on the seat belt into a fastening means provided at one end of a fitting comprising a flexible cable or strap, which has its other end fixedly attached to the floor of the framework of a vehicle. This type of the fastening means referred to a buckle mechanism in the art is disclosed in, e.g., British Pat. No. 1,408,499 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,373,830. So far, such a buckle mechanism has normally been manufactured by caulking the end of the cable with the fitting and rivetting the fitting to a buckle base. However, this manufacturing method is found to involve complicated and troublesome steps.